Anyone have advice on playing as england?

[Todeshund]

well, funny story on how i got this. i work at eb games, and i sold this to a mate. i then went over to his place that afternoon, and he shared the game with me. im hooked! its like taking over the world, without real-life violence! i can only hope for a modern day Total War, such as Modernisation: Total War. anyway, getting sidetracked.

obviously, im new. from what i can gather from some of the forums, and from my brief experience, England is the best faction. does anyone have any advice on how i should run my faction? if i have 1 criticism for this game, it is that there is too much to manage. i am overwhelmed by the various armies and cities i have to manage, not to mention rarely utilising my agents. also, i rarely (if ever) manually do the battles, letting the computer manage it for me. if anyone could give me advice, (preferably someone who favours England and is very adept and ruling the world) i would greatly appreciate it!

[Captain Spanky]

England is a rather well liked faction, so you should have no trouble finding good info. I must admit I havent played them too much, but I will give it a shot. Im not going to go into campaign strategy or anything like that, instead I will focus on how to compose armies and how to use them.

Early Period:
The most important unit in the early period is the longbowman, so upgrade your castle range as soon as possible to get access to them. They should always have precendence in your compostion, out of a 2o unit army, I would suggest a minimum of 6 units of longbowmen, though some people go for more.
The great thing about longowmen is that they can lay stakes, which stops cavalry in their tracks. So use this to your advantage. Now, having the stakes, at least for me, means I dont need spearmen, so as for melee infantry, I use billmen with mail armour. My typical strategy is showering with arrows, then follow up with a massed infantry charge. Some favour spearmen, and there is a definite advantage to using them, but its not to my personal taste.
Another point to think about in the early period is cavalry, as England you will have access to hobilars and mailed knights at this stage, personally I dont use them at all, I dont need them and would rather use the money for developing an economy. Again, this is down to personal taste, you may want to use them, and that is fine.

Mid Game:
The mid-game sees you recieve better heavy infantry, archers and cavalry. You will, at this stage, have access to dismounted feudal knights and armoured swordsmen at this stage, in terms of sword infantry. I would recommend building up the barracks to produce armoured swordsmen, because they are better than the other option, and they cost a lot less in upkeep.
I wouldnt say that upgrading your longbowmen is essential, there are more important things to go for if you find yourself low on funding, but it is recommended as they will not only have a stronger ranged attack, but will also use a big mallet in melee, which I believe is armour piercing.
It is at this stage that cavalry gets important, feudal knights will definetly come in handy, so its worth investing some in any army.
At this stage, I would still recommend around 6 longbow units, 4 heavy cavalry, and filling the rest with the infantry of your choice. You can even choose to incorporate some artillery at this point, though I mainly choose not to until later on, when gunpowder becomes available.

Late Period:
It is somewhere between the middle and late game that gunpowder is discovered, which gives you extra artillery options, and presents a viable alternative to longbowmen. Personally, I use a mixture of both longbowmen and gunners, the gunners have excellent short range stopping power while the longbowmen can still pepper the enemy from a distance, as well as the indomitable stakes.
Speaking of archers, at this point you will be able to upgrade to the final level of longbowmen, though this really is only optional. They get no missile bonus, upgrading them will only make them look shiner and fight better up close.
Infantry wise, you will be able to recruit dismounted english knights. I swear by these knights, as it allows me to really return to my early period strategy, asserting missile superiority then following up with an armour piercing wall of English goodness, though I would still recommend armoured swordsmen as well.
Cavalry wise, there is yet another option to choose which suits you best. On one hand you have the english knights, with a meaty charge and axe weapon, which, (I think), pierces armour. That said, they do not quite have the same punch as other knights of this period, so I still use them in a supporting role. On the other hand is the demi lancer, recruitable from a huge city. They have less armour, and so move faster, and have a higher attack. That said, they dont defend too well, and I think the charge is about the same. I prefer the demi lancers, as Im not fond of the headlong cavalry charge approach anyway, especially as England.
Army composition wise, I would still stick to the same ratio I outlined in the mid game section, though you do have extra choices to make in all categories. The key here is reaching a decision which reflects your playing style. I am typically a reactive fighter, as opposed to a procactive one, therefore I prefer faster cavalry, with a mix of heavy infantry for different purposes, and culverins to provoke the enemy forward.

Hope this is of use, and I apologise for the size of my post.

[Todeshund]

thank you for your advice captain. and the only reason you should be apologizing for the size of your post is for making it too small.

again, thanks for your advice, but...you only covered military units and what my armies should be composed of. what should i do about my economy? in fact, in what order should i focus on for building my faction? (btw, i did see that you said you werent going to go into campaign strategy, but it appears you know your stuff, so i would value you opinion )

which is better, having a town or a castle? what are the benifits of each? (i realise that some, if not all of this, is probably answered in the handbook/tutorial, but im a lazy person, so i didnt bother with them.)

atm, i (probably foolishly) make all my settlements into towns. i also tend to focus slightly more towards economy and politics/dimplotic issues, rather than my armies and war (probably about 60%/40%, in favour of running what i have, rather than taking over the world).

as i said in my origional post, if there is 1 main criticism i have for this game, it is that it is too expansive, with too much to manage (and micro-manage).

again, thannks for your advice, Captain Spanky, and to any others with advice

[Captain Spanky]

Okay then, here we go...

First of all, town/castle ratio. I would expect that one of the first things you should do when playing as England is get control of all the British Isles, and get rid of Scotland all together. Once you have done that I would recommend turning all settlements there into towns, apart from Nottingham, which should remain a castle. You need castles to create armies, but too many can make those armies difficult to finance, one castle is more than enough at this point. Oh, and keep Caen as a castle as well.

Most of your money will come from towns and cities, something which you no doubt know, and there are certain buldings which will increase your income. Ports, roads, markets and farms will all provide a boost to your income. Make sure these are always in place, even a castle can earn a respectable amount in the right place and with road/port additions. Be aware, however, that farms will also make your population grow faster. This is a great thing as it will help your settlements upgrade more quickly, but be aware that you will need to build things like town halls etc, to keep the people happy.

Another thing is also important when building a good economy, that is diplomacy. Since you are playing as England, I would expect your best trade partner would be the Danish, trade between Arhus, Oslo and Antwerp can be very lucrative, so get a trade agreement with them. I would say France, but they tend to be your chief enemy anyway. I would whole-heartedly recommend getting trade rights with everyone you arent trying to kill, as it can only be useful to have them.

One last thing springs to mind about economy, and that is army upkeep. When I was just learning how to play M2TW, I always got into the habit of leaving forces in places when I didnt need them. Lets say you have just destroyed the Scots, and you have the remnants of an army in your freshly conquered (insert name of northern castle here, have completely forgotten :S), you no longer need the forces so they just get left there. I always did this, and it cost me loads in terms of upkeep, ie, the payment you have to make every turn for your units. Keep an eye on where you have forces, and be wary of over-recruiting, (hence my reluctance to use expensive cavalry at all in the early period), and only garrison settlements minimally.
By that, I mean that your towns should be garrisoned only with the militia units that can be produced from that town, as they will get free upkeep. So, if you have a large town, garrison it with 3 units of either town or spear militia, whatever you prefer, and they will be free upkeep-wise. Castles should be garrisoned only with peasents, as they are best at keeping orders due to the unit size, and have cheap upkeep as well. Of course, if your settlement is bordering someone else, then feel free to up the garrison so that you can adequately defend, should you have to.

Right, that is all I can think of at the moment, feel free to ask me anything else. There are others more knowledgable than me in certain aspects of the game, or the workings of the code etc, but I think I have a pretty sound practical knowledge.
Once again, apologies for the length of the post.

[Todeshund]

Thank you again Captain Spanky. is anyone else able to provide any info on how i should run my mini-world?

[29 days later]

well, funny story on how i got this. i work at eb games, and i sold this to a mate. i then went over to his place that afternoon, and he shared the game with me. im hooked! its like taking over the world, without real-life violence! i can only hope for a modern day Total War, such as Modernisation: Total War. anyway, getting sidetracked.

obviously, im new. from what i can gather from some of the forums, and from my brief experience, England is the best faction. does anyone have any advice on how i should run my faction? if i have 1 criticism for this game, it is that there is too much to manage. i am overwhelmed by the various armies and cities i have to manage, not to mention rarely utilising my agents. also, i rarely (if ever) manually do the battles, letting the computer manage it for me. if anyone could give me advice, (preferably someone who favours England and is very adept and ruling the world) i would greatly appreciate it!

England is popular because Britain in an island which makes it a lot easier to defend then countries such as France and Germany. However don’t get complacent, the sea won’t save you from invasion, you still need a strong navy to fend of attacks. Typically I don’t have any castles in Britain (once Scotland and Ireland are under control), all the cities are geared up to making my economy strong, I use the regions in France (at the start of the game) as my military bases, although this may seem risky it does mean my supply lines are short and reinforcements can been called upon quickly.

[Todeshund]

bump. anyone else with advice? oh, and thank you 29 Days Later.

[Captain Spanky]

I'm pretty sure I'm all adviced out, but if you have any specific questions I would be happy to answer them. Keep us updated on your progress.

[Todeshund]

ty again captain. i made a separate thread about a problem i had, where every faction denied an alliance, unless i offered like 10 settlements.....obviously this was unfeasable. so, i restarted, and now on my current campaign, i have the opposite situation. i am allied with every faction except the scots (i wiped them out), the egyptians (im in a crusade against them, so im at war with them), and the moors (sending a diplomat there now to get an alliance with them). and obviously havent had the mongols or the timurids yet. pretty sure my game is bugged, coz theres no way all of them would ally with me quite readily. also, wtf is a vassal? on the diplomacy page, it has "allies" "enemies" and Vassals. wat are vassals, and how do i get them?

[Erwin Rommel]

just keep with the longbowmen and the stakes..............you'll be fine son...

[Todeshund]

ok, im in a bit of a bad position, i am getting ready to break my alliance with france and annihalate them (i will firstly get a diplomat to break the alliance, so my reputation doesnt go down (this does work like that, right?)). i have at least half-full armies on 3 of their almost-empty settlements, and full armies on the rest (especially where they have fairly large armies nearby to reinforce). the HRE just backstabbed me and have attacked bern, which is almost empty (bad move on my part (also a bad move in the fact that i converted it from a castle to a town, thus reducing my front-line capabilities)). my dilemma is this: the stupid milanese wont come and help me, even though i have an alliance and military access with them. why wont they help? is that not the freaking point of having military access? they have a full army like maybe 2-3 turns away, well within attacking range....

[Erwin Rommel]

postpone france.............ask for military assitance from allies....dont go on the offensive....wait for the pope maybe he'll excommunicate etiher of you

[Captain Spanky]

Right, well first of all I wouldnt recommend taking alliances with everyone. Your rep goes down by a fair wedge, regardless of how the alliance is ended. Also, your rep will suffer when you have to choose between two allies who have gone to war with each other, so it is definetly worth deciding on a few allies, rather than many.

You can get a vassal by offering it to a faction you are at war with, through diplomacy. I believe it is under the demands section. When you have a vassal, all of their settlements count to your land count, meaning it pushes you closer to winning the campaign, without having to actually conquer them. Also, if they have over a certain amount of money, (I think 10,000 florins), the surplus will be transfered to you automatically. As well as that, it just functions like an alliance, with trade rights and military access for both sides.

As for your HRE problem, I'm not sure if Bern can be saved. It is costly to get an ally to help you out, you need both money and a pretty good rep to make them agree I have found. What are your finances like? And if you can, could you post a screenshot showing the minimap? It would certainly help me visualise the situation. Am I to understand that because of your alliance with France, you have marched straight through to rebel controlled Bern?

[Todeshund]

ok, sorry for the delay captain. was in bed by the time u replied, and i had work today. uhm, wat you say does make sense, and a heap of factions have now either attacked me or broken alliances because their allies attacked me. i now have only 7 allies (still plenty ). milan are my main enemies, but not for long. they are about to get smashed by about 6-7 full armies . i have been ex-commed for it, but the pope is like 70 years old, so he's about to die. i got a priest in the preferati, and like 4 more in the cardinal thing, so im pretty much guaranteed the pope-ship.

anyway, france is gone (smashed them), so im now taking milan. once i wipe them out, im gonna take out HRE, but im gonna plan it carefully. at one stage, i did have over 100k cash, but i had a heap of things to build, plus my army upkeep is now pretty high. i have stopped all production of army forces, until i can gain some more settlements to finance my growing army.
atm, at turn 54, i have 74k with 20 settlements. i have attached a screenie of my minimap

[Todeshund]

ok, update. turn 56, have 22 regions, around 100k (due to sacking 3 cities, plus having my army upkeep drop to just under 20k, as well as having the increased trade and farm income from the milanese settlements), with a pretty nice income of approx. 15k every turn. the pope died, my guy was elected, so my rep went from 0 crosses up to 7, with a diplomat on the way to make sure things run smoothly. i cannot find the pope tho, so i cant send an assassin down there just in case ill build churches in as many places as possible to up my rating to 10 crosses (im going to build a huge cathedral in london, and pump out priests there, so that i can upgrade my masters theologican guild to theologican HQ, so all my priests get bumped up heaps, so i can pretty much own the college of cardinals). uhm, sending 1 army over to ajaccio, the little island rebel place, just west of rome, because its a mission. also sending 1 down to valencia, because i can . so, next turn or the turn after, i should have 24 regions, with armies filtering in towards all the HRE settlements to wipe them out. ill keep you posted

[Bob The Fearless]

Well by the looks of things you're doing pretty well !!!!!!

Are you still Auto-Calc'ing the battles or have you taken the plunge and started fighting them yourself?

You should find better results if you DIY.

[Captain Spanky]

Things do certainly look to be going well. Congratulations.
One tip though, watch out for Denmark, they tend to create a lot of heavily armoured infantry, so unless you have an alliance and good relations, stay wary of what they can do.

Apart from that, it looks like things are going well. You should be proud of your progress.

[Todeshund]

ok, another update. turn 84, over 200k, but...almost all my settlements are going downhill. by that i mean public order is rapidly falling. i dont have very high tax rate in 1 settlement, because PO is just not high enuff. a majority of my settlements are on low tax rate, with 100% PO or less. on the upside, i have encountered the mongols, and they seem to be taking a long time to get anywhere. i dont really have the means to take them on yet, but i hope to do something about them soon.

i will probably end up sending a couple armies down to spain/portugal and taking the 5 or so settlements there, and then trying to block off the moors from the south, effectively eliminating the worry of invasion from there.

another update soon

[Kahn]

Perhaps it would be wise to cease the conquering and start a decade or two of good old turtling. If what you already own isn't doing so well, it is wise to stop getting more and start focusing on what property you've already got.

Take your conquering armies and use them to fortify your perimeter, disband what you don't need. Fill your cities with militia, and begin constructing every building you can find that increases order, happiness, and public health.

A good way for england to avoid the costly ridiculousness of a giant fleet is to block off the pass between Africa and the Spanish Peninsula as well as the little channel that goes into Danish/Polish/Russian territory. Now you own half the sea on the map. You can disband the rest of your fleet, saving a few ships for transportation.

After your cities are back to good standing, pick one front and go from there. A big assault on the Mongols/HRE to the east and another big push into the Spanish Peninsula to the southwest is just the sort of thing that stretched your finances in the first place. I know that the Spanish Peninsula looks tastey, but put a few armies in those mountain passes and bide your time.

It will still be there after you're done doing your thing in the East.

...as if British problems in the east are ever solved. (am I right?)

[Captain Spanky]

Kahn is right. Go with the nice banana. (+rep for some excellent advice)